The South Wing connects the South Pavilion, the brick two story structure at the end of the terrace, to the all-weather cellar passage that runs under the main house. It contained a dairy, smokehouse, kitchens, and living quarters for enslaved families. Sally Hemings lived in one of these spaces with her and Thomas Jefferson’s children.
Audio Overview
Listen as Gayle Jessup White, a descendant of enslaved chef and master brewer Peter Hemings, discusses the rooms of the South Wing.
- The South Pavilion, the brick building at the end of the terrace, dates to 1770 and is the oldest standing structure at Monticello. Both floors contain exhibits about the people who lived and labored in the South Pavilion.
- Standing under the terrace, look up to see Jefferson’s “zigzag” roof design, which provided an innovative way to prevent leaking and to collect rainwater. The accordion-like roof filters water into gutters, which then flows into cisterns located at the angles of the terraces.
- By Jefferson’s retirement in 1809, a smokehouse and dairy were located along the South Wing. Step inside to learn more about food preservation at Monticello.
On New Years’ Day 1772, Thomas Jefferson married 23-year-old widow Martha Wayles Skelton. The Jeffersons spent the next two years living in this brick building while portions of the main house were under construction. The single upstairs room served as their living, dining, and bedroom, while a staircase connected their living space to a kitchen.
“A smoke blackened and sooty room in one of the collanades.” This is how Jefferson biographer, Henry S. Randall, described a room in which Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman who bore at least six of Thomas Jefferson’s children, lived in bondage.
By 1809, a larger kitchen located at the corner of the South Wing became the site of bustling activity. Here, enslaved chefs Edith Hern Fossett and Frances Gillette Hern managed almost every aspect of food preparation during Jefferson’s retirement. Step inside to learn about one of the best equipped kitchens in Virginia.
Next door in the Cook’s Room, Edith Fossett lived in a single room with her husband, Joseph Fossett, and some of their eight children. Step inside and consider life at Monticello for the Fossett family.